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The main portion of this collection consists of wills, accounts, correspondence and statements from the mid- to late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries relating to the family’s financial affairs, mostly arising from the will of the 1st Earl of Limerick and the dramatic reduction in rents at the turn of the century, which necessitated the sale of holdings through the Land Commission Court in the early 1900s. There is a small but interesting series of leases of property in Limerick City (P51/3/1/1-3 and P51/4/1-2) and a comprehensive set of documents (P51/3/2/1-28) relating to a dispute over title to St George’s Church at No. 1 Mallow Street, Limerick, which was demolished to make way to the Provincial Bank of Ireland, designed by James and George Richard Pain (for a ground plan of the bank by the Pain brothers, see P51/3/2/11).

While much of the early material relating to the Earls of Limerick and their antecedents is deposited in the National Library of Ireland, some interesting early documents can also be found in this collection. Of particular note is a compilation of manuscript transcripts of letters and petitions (P51/1/1) by Edmond Sexten the elder (1486-1555) and his grandson Edmond Sexten the younger (1595-1636) concerning among other things their disputes with Limerick Corporation. The document is written in secretary hand, but a more easily legible version can be found in P51/1/2. Also worth noting is a compilation of abstracts and copies of early deeds relating to the Sexton, Casey and Stackpole families (P51/1/3). A wonderful example of the emergence of the Age of Enlightenment can be found in P51/2/1 in the shape of a commonplace book, in which Colonel Edmund Pery kept notes between 1671 and 1681 on weights and measures, foreign coins, chronology, geography, astronomy, orthography, pronunciation and usage of English, significance of colours, instructions concerning the keep of horses, recipes for ink, boot polish etc., gardening activities and meteorological predictions.

A shortcoming of this collection is its limited scope. There are no rent rolls, no estate correspondence and no personal correspondence of family members. The building of Dromore Castle remains unrecorded, except for a scrap book (P51/5/4/1) compiled in 1868-1869 to contain sketches by the architect Edward William Godwin and rare photographs of Dromore Castle taken at various stages of its construction and a sketch of fireplace tiles by Godwin (P51/5/4/2). The only item of personal nature in the collection is an album of photographs, sketches, and signatures collected by May, Countess of Limerick during house parties (P51/6/3/2/2).

It should be noted here that the material deposited in the National Library of Ireland dates primarily from 1371 to 1806. A significant gap of the nineteenth-century material therefore exists, both in terms of estate and personal documentation.

The papers in the collection relate mainly to the Sandville branch of the family and mostly to the activities of James Grene Barry (1841-1929). They include early twentieth-century notes on family history, possibly compiled by James Grene Barry who was known for his antiquarian interests. The notes trace the history of the Sandville and other branches of the family to Elizabethan times and include much interesting material, such as handwritten copies of leases, mortgages and other documents, and pedigrees of the Barry and other families.

James Grene Barry’s political activities are recorded in a series of documents relating to his objection to Gladstone’s Home Rule Bill of 1893. Of particular interest is a letter from James Alexander Rentoul, MP for East Down, outlining his plans to canvass Grand Jury members across the country against the Bill (P20/2/7).

Administrative records in this collection relate in the main to the Sandville branch Barrys. They are mostly concerned with the family’s financial affairs and also provide an interesting insight into Land League activities in county Limerick at the turn of the twentieth century. One of the few items relating to the Standish Barry branch of Leamlara is a ledger of farm accounts kept by Henry Standish Barry (P20/3/1/1/6).

Another set of documents reflects the professional activities as estate agents of James Grene Barry and his son James Thomas Barry, and the effects on local landowning families of the various Land Acts passed in the early twentieth century. Of particular interest are items relating to the purchase of land from Henry Lyons of Croom Castle (P20/3/2/1/1-9), and the sale of part of the Islandmore estate by Major Roche Kelly (P20/3/2/2/1-2).

Finally, the collection contains deeds and a draft will relating to the Shine family of Coolyhenan, county Limerick, many of whom served as Justices of the Peace for county Limerick in the late nineteenth century. The reason for their presence among the Barry papers has not been ascertained.

Preliminary and draft manuscripts with edits, finisehd manuscripts and stencils (copies for choir members) of de Regge’s musical compositions.

The Glin Papers, unfortunately, do not reflect the long history of the family, as many of the older documents were allegedly burnt in a tantrum by the aptly nick-named ‘Cracked Knight’ or John Fraunceis Eyre FitzGerald, 25th Knight of Glin. They date from 1800 onwards and have been arranged into eight series according to the tenure of the various Knights.

Series A, which relates to John Bateman FitzGerald, 23rd Knight of Glin, contains a single document in the form of a volume which contains a printed copy of a private Act of Parliament passed to force John Bateman to raise money by mortgage or otherwise to pay off incumbrances. The Act shows the incumbrances to amount to almost £14,000 and notes that Colonel John had incurred legal costs of at least £1500 and had spent more than £6000 on Glin Castle and demesne.

Series B relates to John Fraunceis FitzGerald, 24th Knight of Glin and ranges from his marriage settlement with the long-suffering Bridgetta Eyre (1812) to a deed poll appointing him as High Sheriff of Limerick (1830). The marriage settlement burdened the estate to the tune of £8,000, and when his eldest son and heir married in 1835, the estate was further burdened with £6,000 to account for the portions of younger children. By the time of his death in 1854, John Fraunceis had managed to create or oversee principal sum incumbrances amounting to at least £14,000. There are also documents in this section which show how short-term cash was raised, as was the practice in 19th century, by creating mortgages. This series also contains the constabulary journals and personal journals of William Massey Blennerhassett, who married John Fraunceis’ daughter Margaretta Sophia FitzGerald (P1/20-33).

Section C concerns John Fraunceis Eyre FitzGerald, 25th Knight of Glin, the aforementioned ‘Cracked Knight’. The most interesting of the documents related to this section are the mortgages raising money from the Glin lands and reflect the almost ever-present insolvency facing the family (P1/44-50). One in particular from 1864 (P1/48) lists incumbrances on the estate which then totalled £14,000 in principle sums not including the £1539 charge that was being transferred. It would appear, therefore, that incumbrances had risen to approximately £15,500 by the end of The Cracked Knight’s tenure. Also of note are the estate day books which span form 1858-1867 and record the receipt of rents from the estate (P1/51-52).

Series D concerns Desmond John Edmund FitzGerald, 26th Knight of Glin. The documents in this section comprise mainly leases, conveyances and mortgages relating to lands on the Glin estate. Also of interest are the Long Rock fishery records which span from 1866-1890 (P1/144-145). Another document of note is the will of his cousin, Jane Augusta Richardson (P1/148) as a later annotation to the document reads: ‘The beautiful Mrs. Richardson probably mistress of Desmond John Edmund FitzGerald, Knight of Glin’.

Series E relates to Desmond FitzJohn Lloyd FitzGerald, 27th Knight of Glin. The documents in this section contain the usual leases, mortgages and marriage settlements but there is also a small amount of personal correspondence which is of interest, including a letter from his father-in-law, the 4th Earl of Dunraven, in which he declares that if FitzJohn were to hire a woman to look after the young Desmond Windham Otho, ‘she would have to be appallingly old and ugly to save your character’ (P1/303). They also reflect FitzJohn’s interest shooting parties and golf, as many surviving letters written by him to his son, Desmond Windham Otho, while attending boarding school, describe little else (P1/540).

Series F relates to Desmond Windham Otho FitzGerald, 28th Knight of Glin. In addition to leases, conveyances, con-acre agreements and rental accounts (P1/604-638), a large amount of material in this series concerns household and estate accounts with cashbooks and hundreds of tradesmen’s receipts and invoices for various goods and services (P1/639-695). There are also account books for the Long Rock Fishery, which was established in part by the Knight’s grandfather, Desmond John Edmund. The weirs were closed in 1935 when the Government took them over (P1/707-709). The failure of the 28th Knight of Glin’s garage business also features in this series and illustrates clearly the bitter legal wrangle that followed (P1/550-555). More personal items in this series relate to the Knight’s wife, Veronica Villiers. An avid correspondent, the collection is home to many hundreds of letters written her by family members, friends and acquaintances (P1/370-497). There is also much official correspondence with stockbrokers, solicitors, and land agents (P1/354-369). Other interesting items in Veronica’s possession include watercolour sketches (ca. 1850) by her great-aunt, Amelie T. Amherst (P1/504-506), and a small collection of black and white photographs (P1/507-518).

Series G concerns Desmond John Villiers FitzGerald, 29th Knight of Glin. The papers contained in this series include school reports (P1/744, P1/749) and volumes of lecture notes from his time at UBC and Harvard (P1/751-776); leases, undertakings and rentals (P1/777-817); and correspondence concerned with the estate (P1/818-843). There is much in this series devoted to the afore-mentioned refurbishment of the Castle, including correspondence with Horatio Ray Milner (P1/844-852), and plans and drawings of the restoration work (P1/854-878). There are also very interesting documents related to the development of Glin Castle as a guest house (P1/884-948), which show how the estate survived by utilising the tourist trade. Correspondence from these papers reflects the success of Irish tourism enterprises, especially in this case, in attracting the upper end of the American market. Milner also provided money to improve the farm at Glin in order that it become viable and self-sustainable. Correspondence, farm invoices, account books and bank statements are the main document-types in this series (P1/949-1138).

Membership lists, correspondence, account books, financial reports, minutes, statements and press releases relating to The Ancient Guild of Incorporated Brick and Stonelayers’ Trade Union, Woodworkers and Plasterers’ Trade Union, Construction Industry Federation, Irish Congress of Trade Unions, Limerick Building Trades Group, SIPTU and other trade unions and union activities (1962-1998); rules, correspondence, bills, receipts and financial reports relating to the Mechanics’ Institute (1882-1996); constitutions and policy statements, press statements, speeches, membership lists, minutes, financial statements, election manifestos, correspondence, pamphlets and posters relating to the Democratic Socialist Party (1980-1994); minutes, reports, statements, accounts and correspondence relating to the Labour Party (1965-1997); electoral material and correspondence relating to Kemmy’s Dáil terms and electoral campaigns (1977-1997); correspondence, speeches, press releases, minutes and appointment diaries relating to Kemmy’s activities as Alderman and Mayor (1974-1997); appeals, petitions and other correspondence relating to Kemmy’s constituency work (1967-1997); articles and draft articles, research material (including nineteenth-century documents) and correspondence relating to Kemmy’s historical and literary activities; and photographs, artwork, correspondence and a small number of other items of personal nature.

The collection comprises primarily letters and copies of letters by members of the Monsell family or individuals associated with them. Of particular note is a letter book kept by the shipping merchant William Monsell (P2/1/1), which contains copies of some 1,200 items of mainly business correspondence, giving a unique insight into Limerick as a maritime mercantile city in the early eighteenth century. Of equal interest is the fragment of a diary (P2/1/12) kept by his grandson, the Reverend Samuel Monsell (1743-1818), Precentor of Ardfert from 1791 to 1811, which provides an extraordinary account of the private life and innermost thoughts of a Church of Ireland clergyman struggling to stay on the path of virtue.

This collection contains material created and generated by the Armstrong and Kemmis families during their ownership of Moyaliffe House, county Tipperary, and includes both administrative records and personal documents. Seventeenth-century material is scarce and limited in the main to leases of small pockets of land in counties Tipperary and Limerick. A more unusual item from this period is the satirical manuscript poem On the Bill of Conformity (P6/2137), attributed to Henry Hall, one of only sixteen known copies in the world. Eighteenth-century administrative records are mainly of financial and legal nature and arise from the badly managed affairs of William Armstrong (1704-1768), which affected his brother, the Reverend John Armstrong, who succeeded to the estate. Of personal items, the collection of early eighteenth-century sermons (P6/375-P6/427) attributed to the Reverend Edward Armstrong, the Reverend John Armstrong and others is of particular interest.

The nineteenth-century administrative material relates predominantly to the management of the Moyaliffe estate, and the succession to and management and eventual disposal of the family’s estates in Mayo and Sligo. There are also some clerical records of interest, most notably material relating to tithe wars of the 1830s (P6/758-P6/766 and P6/789-P6/813), and the state of dilapidation of the Mansion House of the See of Tuam discovered after the death, in 1819, of the Most Reverend Honourable William Beresford, first Baron Decies, Archbishop of Tuam, whose daughter Catherine was married to the Reverend Willam Carew Armstrong (1791-1847) (P6/850-P6/860).

By far the most voluminous, and perhaps the most interesting, part of the collection is that relating to the twentieth century. The administrative records in this section are in the main concerned with the management not only of Moyaliffe House but also of Ballinacor, county Wicklow, home of Captain William Daryl Olphert Kemmis. There is also a large quantity of material relating to Moyaliffe Stud (P6/1547-P6/1595), and to the problem of succession to the Moyaliffe and Ballinacor estates following Captain Kemmis’s death without issue in 1965 (P6/1812-P6/1834). On the personal side, the extensive correspondence of Rosalie Armstrong and her daughter Jess provide a unique insight into the genteel Anglo-Irish lifestyle and the irrevocable changes wrought upon it by the onset of the First World War. Of unique significance are the letters of Captain Kemmis to his father (P6/1475-P6/1479), and the letters and diaries of Captain William Maurice (‘Pat’) Armstrong written during the First World War (P6/1209-P6/1212 and P6/1414-P6/1418), providing first-hand accounts of events as they unfolded in the various theatres of war.

The twentieth-century material was roughly arranged by Jess Kemmis, who also appears to have destroyed some of it for personal reasons. Items thus lost included letters written by her niece, Bettyne Spencer (née Everard), to justify her actions during the Moyaliffe House dispute (for which see P6/1821-P6/1831). The letters were destroyed by Mrs Kemmis because she felt her niece’s views to be wrong. Also missing are Jess Kemmis’s diaries for the years 1955-1982 which she is known to have kept assiduously with the view to their permanent preservation within the family papers.

Jess Kemmis provided many explanatory notes and dates relating to the Armstrong Papers and the people and events to which they relate. These notes, which can be found scattered throughout the collection, should be treated with due caution as most, while well-intentioned and often helpful, can be misleading or inaccurate, written as they were in advanced old age.

This subfonds contains photograph albums, prints, negatives, metal and glass plates, slides and film mostly taken of and by Captain Marcus Beresford Armstrong, his wife and children and their extended family and friends, predominantly between 1890 and 1960. The images include studio portraits of members of the Armstrong, Maude and Kemmis families and snapshots of family life at Moyaliffe Castle, county Tipperary and Ballinacor, county Wicklow. Also contained in the collection are images of hunting and shooting parties in country houses across Ireland, England and Scotland; portraits of horses bred at Moyaliffe Stud, and snapshots of tenants and labourers mainly on the Moyaliffe estate. The collection also contains a unique set of images taken by Captain Pat Armstrong of military life in India and South Africa, where he served with the Tenth Royal Hussars, and of field operations in Europe and North Africa during the First World War. Note that all images are black and white unless otherwise stated.

Calendar of 66 persons awaiting trial in Carlow town compiled by Alexander John Humfrey, Clerk of the Peace. The calendar lists the name and age of each defendant, the nature of their crime, date of committal to jail, name of the person by whom committed and whether bailed or in custody. The persons listed comprise 50 men and 16 women aged between 13 and 63. Their crimes include theft (mostly of food items), possession of stolen goods, assault, fighting and making an affray.

This collection documents Gerard Gallivan’s career as a playwright, comprising manuscript and typescript drafts of his plays and other works; correspondence with theatre producers, actors, publishers and writers’ societies; posters and programmes relating to his plays; diaries; photographs; and press cuttings.